As employers start to roll out their hiring plans for the holidays and the New Year, many will be turning to phone interviews to screen candidates. Whether you’re unemployed and need a job or you’re looking for a new job, a phone interview may be the next stage on the journey to your new, better career. But no matter how anxious you might be, it’s important to prepare. After all, it’s the first impression you make on the hiring manager, so you want to make a good one. Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered.
Phone interviews are becoming more and more common, and they’re being conducted more frequently by companies. They give you an opportunity to make a great first impression before an in-person interview, so they’re definitely worth using to your advantage. Here are some phone interview tips to help you succeed and impress the hiring manager.
Top Phone Interview Tips To Get Hired
Confirm the scheduled time
When conducting a job interview over the phone, a simple, yet very important step that interviewers often overlook is to confirm when the interview is scheduled for. If you call the company in order to set up a phone interview, it’s your responsibility to confirm the date and time of the interview. If you fail to do this, and the interviewer calls, they will assume you were unable to make the call and are therefore not interested in the position.
Research the company
A phone interview is a great way to find out if a job is right for you. Rather than having to sit through a two-hour interview, the phone interview is your chance to learn as much as you can about the company. This shouldn’t be an obstacle to getting hired, but it does make it even more important to research the company before you call so that, if they ask you any questions about why you want to work for them specifically, you will be able to demonstrate that you have done
Know who will be calling you
As a new or recent college grad, you may be about to sit down for your first phone interview. When a call comes in from a hiring manager or recruiter, it’s important to be prepared. Knowing something as simple as the name of the person who will be calling can really help, as you can practice answering questions and addressing them in your responses before the interview.
Look over the job description
Before your interview, look over the job description for the role you are applying for and take note of any particular skills, qualifications, or qualities that they are looking for. That way, you will be able to tailor your answers to the job description and show them why you are a great fit for them.
Be an active listener
Phone interviews are far from face-to-face interviews. After all, you are speaking over the phone, which means you can’t read body language, facial expressions, or any other non-verbal clues. You should do your best to be as active a listener as possible so that you appear focused and alert, and are able to answer the questions in a good amount of detail.
Don’t multitask
It seems obvious, but don’t check your email, text, or Facebook messages during the interview because that will distract you and you may miss an important question or piece of information. Also, if there’s background noise, don’t use headphones.
Do not interrupt.
Interrupting will be interpreted as rudeness, regardless of how enthusiastic you then come across as. Do not interrupt. This is polite. If you’re not sure what the speaker said, ask, “Please can you repeat that?”, and they should be more than happy to repeat what they have just said. If you do interrupt, apologize and allow the interviewer to continue with what they are saying before you give your response.
Ask for clarification if you need to
In a similar vein, do not be afraid to ask the interviewer to rephrase the question if you don’t quite understand it the first time around. No interviewer is deliberately trying to make it so you can’t answer the questions, but people do have their own ways of saying things that some may find confusing. By asking for clarification, you will be showing that you genuinely care about the interview and want to make sure you are able to give the best response to the question possible.
By following the above tips, we hope that your next phone interview will be a great success and help you move on to the next stage of the application process. However, it’s important to not get too disheartened if you are not selected, and take it as a good learning experience to build on so that, next time, you do succeed.